Browse our glossary of poetic terms, which include poetic terms, forms, and literary devices. Use this list to find inspiration, try out new styles of poetry, or to brush up on your knowledge.
A
Acrostic: An acrostic poem is defined by the selected word. The letter of the chosen word become the letter to start each line, allowing writers to explore a theme visually and more specifically through each line.
Alliteration: Alliteration is a literary trick in which the same letter or sound appears at the start of words that are closely related. Alliteration is a technique for establishing rhythm and atmosphere.
Allusion: An allusion is a phrase used to bring something to mind without expressly addressing it; it is an indirect or passing reference.
Assonance: The repeating of vowel sounds in a phrase or sentence is known as assonance.
Anaphora: Throughout a work or a segment of work, the same word or phrase appears at the beginning of each line.
Apostrophe: In a poem, the speaker addresses an absent person, an animal, an inanimate object, or a notion as if it were a person. Wordsworth, for example— “Milton, Milton, Milton! At this hour, you should be alive / England needs you.”
B
Ballad: A ballad is a narrative poem made up of quatrains that rhyme x-a-x-a (iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter). Refrains are sometimes used in ballads. “Jackaroo” and “The Long Black Veil” are two examples.
Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter in blank verse. Shakespeare’s plays, for example.
C
Calligram: Calligram is a concrete shape poem that creates the shape by repeating words or lines.
Conceit: Conceit is a long metaphor that builds on a metaphorical comparison of two objects and examines all of its sides throughout the poem or a segment of the poem.
Connotation: When a term conjures up additional associations beyond its dictionary definition, it is said to have connotations.
Couplet: In a poem, a couplet is a pair of lines that follow one another. A couplet is made up of two lines that usually rhyme and have the same meter.
Confessional Poetry: The poetry of the “I” is known as confessional poetry. “This type of writing arose in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is linked with poets like as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W. D. Snodgrass,” according to Poets.org. This genre of poetry addressed private experiences with and feelings regarding death, trauma, sadness, and relationships, typically in an autobiographical manner.”
Caesura: Within a line of poetry, a caesura is a short but noticeable pause used for impact. “Seize the day,” as the phrase goes in poetry. Poetry about the fragility of life and the necessity to act or appreciate the current moment. “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time,” by Herrick, for example.
Chiasmus: Antimetabole is the reverse of the identical words in a grammatical structure. Chiasmus is a “crossing” or reversal of two parts. For instance, instead of asking what your country can do for you, consider what you can do for your country. For example, you’ve seen how a man becomes a slave; now you’ll learn how a slave becomes a man.
Common Meter: Iambic tetrameter alternates with iambic trimeter in common meter or hymn measure (Emily Dickinson).
Consonance: Consonance is the inverse of assonance; it is the partial or complete identity of consonants in words with different primary vowels. Shadow meadow, for example; squeezed, passed; lapped, supped. This “impure rhyme” is used by Owen to portray the sorrow of battle and death.
D
Deus Ex Machina: Deus Ex Machina is a literary device that introduces a unforeseen solution to a problem.
Double Couplet: AABB is a rhyming pattern created by repeating sounds. Within a quatrain, double couplets can be employed to produce a powerful positive rhythm. A couplet is a pair of lines in a poem in poetry. They usually rhyme and have the same meter or rhythm. They form a whole notion or unit.
Dramatic Tone: A dramatic monologue is a poem delivered by one person to another without the presence of a listener. The employment of first-person, “I,” and second person, “you,” in poetry demonstrates the use of voice.
Diction: Diction is a term used to define a speaker’s level of formality.
Proper, elevated, ornate, and often polysyllabic language is referred to as diction (formal or high). This was once regarded to be the sole type of language suited for poetry.
Correct language that is straightforward and simple is known as neutral or medium diction.
Relaxed, conversational, and familiar diction (informal or low).
E
Emotional Expressions: Emotive Language is a type of writing in which the author carefully selects his or her words in order to elicit emotion in the reader. It’s all about word choice, which can elicit a variety of emotions, such as melancholy or happiness. As the words influence the reader’s emotional levels, the reader begins to experience or have their senses awaken.
Enjambment: (in verse) Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence at the end of a line, couplet, or stanza without a pause. It is used to increase the reader’s or listener’s pace or to generate a sense of urgency.
Epic: Epic poetry is a long poem that tells the story of a hero. Epics, like Homer’s Odyssey, use formal language to tell the tales and feats of heroes and their conflicts and interactions with the gods, demons, and more.
Epigraph: An epigraph is a short quotation or saying placed at the start of a book to suggest the theme.
F
First-person perspective: The story is told from the perspective of one character at a time in a first-person point of view. This character could be talking about themselves or the circumstances that he or she is going through.
Free Verse: Free verse poetry is a type of poetry in which the rhyme scheme and rhythm are not set in stone.
G
Ghazal: Ghazal poetry originated in the 7th century in Arabic-speaking countries. This poetic form is know for its lyrical quality and use of couplets.
H
Haiku: Haiku poetry originated in Japanese literature in the 17th century. It is characterized by its 5-7-5 syllable, three line format.
Hyperbole: Exaggerated claims or remarks that are not meant to be taken literally are known as hyperbole, and are frequently used for dramatic or lyrical impact.
I
Imagery: The use of words to generate images in the mind of the reader based on the five senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste is known as imagery. It can also refer to feelings (how one feels on the inside) and the use of descriptive language to construct a picture with words.
Imagism: Imagism is a type of poetry that uses exact language and words to create clear images.
Intertextuality: Intertextuality is the study of how one text impacts another. Direct borrowing, such as a quotation or plagiarism, or a little more indirect borrowing, such as parody, pastiche, allusion, or translation, are examples.
L
Limerick: Limerick poems are known for their humorous tone and consist of five lines, with a syllable pattern of 9-9-6-6-9 and a rhyme scheme of AABBA.
Lyric: Lyric poetry is short poem with a song-like quality that expresses deep emotions of the narrator.
M
Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used to describe an object or activity is not literal.
Meter: In a verse or inside the lines of a poem, the meter is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern. Stressed syllables are longer, while unstressed syllables are shorter. Meter is a poetic element that provides poetry with a rhythmical and beautiful tone by serving as a linguistic sound pattern for the lines.
Minimalist Poetry: Minimalist poetry is known for its brevity. This style of poetry is known for being concise though impactful and for different forms and spacing.
Mood: Inducing or implying a specific feeling or state of mind is referred to as mood.
Motif: A motif is a recurring symbol occurring in a story that holds significance. A motif can be a character, thing, or even an over-arching theme.
O
Onomatopoeia: The development of a word from a sound linked with what is called is known as onomatopoeia (example: cuckoo, sizzle).
P
Pantoum: Pantoum is a type of poem that has a certain line structure and recurring, intertwined lines.
Personification: Personification is a poetic device in which human attributes are transferred to inanimate objects, objects, or even animals to give them life.
Punctuation: Punctuation refers to the marks used in writing to divide sentences and their constituents, as well as to clarify meaning. Examples include full stops, commas, oxford commas, and brackets.
Q
Quatrain: A quatrain is a literary device used to help a poem’s structure. It’s a four-line stanza with an extremely close rhyme structure.
R
Refrain: In music and poetry, a refrain is a repeated line or lines that serve as a unifying device. Individual words have been used again from one line to the next to connect ideas. Make a note of the repeated words and their impact on the reading.
Repetition: Repetition is a literary device in which the same sounds, words, or phrases are repeated several times to clarify an idea. Repetition can be used to emphasize a sentiment or idea, establish a rhythm and familiarity, and/or generate a sense of urgency.
Rhyme: Rhyme happens when words are arranged in such a way that the recurrence of sounds is highlighted (particularly vowel sounds). When the last words in each line, or in two or more lines of poetry rhyme, this is known as end rhyme. When two+ words in a single line rhyme, it’s called internal rhyme.
Rhyme Schemes: The arrangement of rhymes at the conclusion of each line in a poem or song is known as the rhyme scheme. Each rhyming sound is traditionally assigned to a different letter of the alphabet, so a rhyme scheme might be abab cdcd, or, if in rhyming couplets, aa bb cc…
S
Semiotics: Semiotics is the study of symbols and signs, which are created and interpreted culturally. Signs can have deeper meanings than they appear on the surface, and they can also be read literally.
Sensory Imagery: Any depiction that involves one or more of the five senses — touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing — is referred to as sensory imagery. Poetry with a lot of sensory description makes it easier for the reader to imagine or experience the scene the poet is describing.
Simile: A simile is a literary device that uses like or as to compare two things. Similes are utilized to aid in the creation of an image and to help you visualize it more clearly.
Symbolism: When a writer uses symbolism, he or she asks the reader to see anything as a symbol for something else, such as an object or word representing an abstract idea.
Shakespearean Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
Simile: A direct comparison between two dissimilar items; the terms of the comparison are stated using “like” or “as.”
Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-line rhyming iambic pentameter poem written in a closed-form. There are two types of sonnets, Shakespearean sonnets and Petrarchan sonnets
T
Tone: The general character, mood, or attitude used to describe of a place, piece of writing, circumstance, etc., is referred to as tone.
Triple Rhyme: Rhyming words with three or more syllables in which any syllable except the final is emphasized is known as triple rhyme or dactylic rhyme. Macavity/gravity/depravity, for example.
Trochee: (trochaic) is a word that means “stressed unstressed.” Consider the following scenario: “Tyger, Tyger, Tyger! Brightly flaming”
V
Villanelle: A villanelle is a poetic form that consists of 19 lines (5 three-line stanzas and a quatrain) and thematically can cover a wide range of themes.
Volta: A Petrarchan sonnet’s “turning point, known as the Volta, generally occurs between the octave (first eight lines) and the sestet (the last six lines).
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